World War I, in which the Central Powers and the Entente powers fought for world dominance, ended with the victory of the Entente powers after five years of bloody fighting.
In the early summer of 1918, Field Marshal Hindenburg signed the Instrument of Surrender to the Entente Powers on behalf of the German Empire in Brest-Litovsk.
As a result, the Imperial Russian Army, led by Supreme Commander Marshal Kornilov, engraved its name in history as the hero that defeated Germany, the strongest military power in Europe.
Six months after the German surrender, talks between the top leaders of the victorious nations began in Königsberg.
The talks between the three leaders - Tsar Nicholas II, British Prime Minister David Lloyd-George, and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau - continued for another six months.
The reason it took six months from the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to the Conference of Königsberg was solely to put down rebellions by three communist regimes: the Bavarian-Räthe Republic and the Republic of Alsace-Lorraine in southern Germany, and the Hungarian Council Republic in Hungary.
The leading role in this suppression operation was played by the Russian Empire, which was now the largest and most powerful military power in Europe.
After the fall of Wilhelm II, Nicholas II became the most powerful monarch in Europe in both name and reality, and as the "liberator of Europe" he "liberated" Bavaria, Alsace-Lorraine, and Hungary from Communist countries in order to rebuild a new international order.
Although Britain and France, not wanting Russia's growing influence in this "liberation" war, refused to provide any assistance, the Russian Empire cooperated with volunteers from its former enemies, the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to overthrow the Communist regimes.
The communist regime was also quickly defeated by the Russian army, as Lenin's Communist France, which it had relied on, refused to provide aid, and because it had only recently taken place since the communist revolution.
Then, in 1919, all Communist regimes except for the Commune government in northern France collapsed, and the Entente Powers began to move in earnest to deal with the post-war situation of the Central Powers.
Emperor Nicholas II's interests could be roughly summed up in three points:
First, there was the issue of reparations for the enormous damage that the Russian Empire had suffered as a result of the German invasion, second, the issue of the Central Powers' sphere of political influence after the war, and third, the issue of their diplomatic position vis-à-vis the Communist regime in France.
At the peace conference, there was an almost unanimous decision to use reparations to Germany to cover the enormous war costs and debts owed to the United States, but there was a conflict over the sphere of political influence between Britain, which sought to maintain the current international order, and Russia, which sought to change it.
Britain was reluctant to break up the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, which were intended to counter Russia and France in order to maintain the balance of power, but Russia and the French Third Republic, both of which sought to ensure their own national security, opposed this.
---Thus, the meeting reached no conclusion, but an unexpected compromise was reached.
In March 1919, the government of the French Third Republic, which had been resisting to the end in Marseille, was unable to withstand the "Christmas Offensive" that had begun in December of the previous year, and abandoned the mainland and went into exile in Algeria.
A thousand ships were hastily mobilized for a massive evacuation called Operation Dynamo, and in just ten days, 200,000 government officials and 100,000 soldiers fled Marseille. A small number of aircraft and airships were also dispatched from Russia, and the desperate evacuation continued across the Alps through Italy.
The "great little ships of Marseille" that took part in this operation included not only the French Navy, but also the Royal Navy, the Italian Navy, and a variety of civilian cargo ships, fishing boats, pleasure boats, and lifeboats that were urgently requisitioned, and this "Miracle of Marseille" became deeply etched in the hearts of French exiles.
In response to this situation, even within Britain, staunch anti-communists such as Winston Churchill were increasingly in favor of compromising with Russia, and eventually Lloyd George was forced to reluctantly acknowledge Russia's role as the "gendarmerie of Europe."
The peace conference was led by Nicholas II of Russia, and the representatives of the Entente powers decided on the basic policy of dissolving the Central Powers. Individual nations also decided to dissolve the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, and divide them into separate territories.
The specific contents of the treaty are as follows:
First, the German Empire was dismantled and reorganized into two parts: the Confederation of the Rhine in the west and the Imperial German Confederation in the east.
The Confederation of the Rhine consisted of the West German states of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Württemberg, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, the Republic of Westphalia, the Republic of the Rhineland, the Republic of Alsace-Lorraine, the Kingdom of Hanover, and the Duchy of Holstein.
Although the Supreme Chancellor selected by the Confederation Council became the head of state, the member states had very strong autonomy, and in reality the Confederation was sometimes referred to as a "Holy Roman Empire revived in modern times." The capital was divided into three, with the executive branch in Hamburg, the legislative branch in Frankfurt, and the judicial branch in Cologne, which clearly shows how divided the Confederation of the Rhine was.
The Confederation of the Rhine was essentially a British puppet state, and although its overall national power exceeded that of the German Empire, a puppet of Russia, it was politically fragmented into small regional divisions, making it difficult for it to act in a unified manner.
The remaining German Imperial Confederation was made up of the East German countries such as the Kingdom of Brandenburg, the Duchy of Pomerania, the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg, the Kingdom of Saxony, and the Duchy of Silesia, and was led by the Kingdom of Brandenburg, with its capital Berlin. Wilhelm II abdicated and his son, Wilhelm III, succeeded him as head of state under a constitutional monarchy.
Although this country was a federation, its leader, the Kingdom of Brandenburg, held overwhelming power, so it was essentially a downsized version of the former Kingdom of Prussia, and it shifted course from a naval and maritime nation with many pro-British supporters to an army and continental nation with many pro-Russian supporters.
However, East Prussia and the Free City of Danzig were ceded to the Russian Empire, and the remaining territories acquired during the Third Partition of Poland (West Prussia and Posen) were acquired by Austria during the Third Partition of Poland.territoryIt was then incorporated into the restored Kingdom of Poland.
Due to this background, although the Kingdom of Poland had achieved its long-desired independence, it remained a complete puppet state of Russia, and its basic diplomatic policy became to receive back former Polish territory little by little in return for cooperation with Russia.
Among Russia's overseas territories, Cameroon became its first African colony (Russian Cameroon), and the lease of the German Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory (Qingdao) was transferred to Russia.
In addition, the German lease of the Tianjin Territory was transferred to the Empire of Japan, and most of the interests that Germany held in China, such as railway construction rights and mining rights, also passed into the hands of the Empire of Japan.
In addition, Tanzania and Namibia became British colonies, completing the country's trans-African policy, and German New Guinea and German Samoa in the Pacific Ocean also became British colonies.
Next came the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which saw the establishment of the Danube Empire consisting of the five kingdoms of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Slovakia, and Slovenia, with the Habsburgs' rule barely surviving under a constitutional monarchy.
The Danube Empire became a buffer zone between the liberal camp led by Britain and the authoritarian camp led by Russia, and spies from various countries operated secretly in Vienna and Budapest in a delicate balance.
However, Galicia was ceded to Russia, with Western Galicia being incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland, South Tyrol and Istria, which were to become part of the "unclaimed Italy", were to be recovered by the Kingdom of Italy, and the southern part of Transylvania was to be incorporated into Romania.
The Kingdom of Serbia, emerging as the victorious nation, ceded the Vojvodina region from the Kingdom of Hungary and Bulgarian Macedonia from Bulgaria, and then united with Montenegro, as well as Croatia, Dalmatia, and Bosnia, which had gained independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to form the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Although anti-Russian sentiment was deep-rooted among the Yugoslav people due to the bitter experience of being abandoned by Russia during World War I, at the high-ranking government level a realistic pro-Russian diplomacy was adopted, while maintaining a certain distance.
As for the Kingdom of Romania, it ceded Bessarabia and Moldavia to Russia in exchange for Dobruja from Bulgaria and southern Transylvania from Hungary.
Because it was occupied by Russia during the war, for some time after the war it was governed by the Russian-led Allied Powers Supreme Command (GHQ), and Romania could not escape its influence even after independence.
The Kingdom of Bulgaria ceded Dobruja to Romania, Western Thrace to Greece, and Bulgarian Macedonia to Serbia, but was exempt from claims for indemnity.
As the country dealt with the defeat, the peasant movement, the Communist Party, and republican forces grew in strength, and at one point the survival of the monarchy was in jeopardy, but the young new king, Boris III, succeeded in suppressing the hostile forces with the help of the army and the Russian Empire.
As a result of the Ottoman Empire being heavily weakened by the war with Russia, its borders were significantly changed.
First, Constantinople, Eastern Thrace, the coasts of the Aegean and Marmara regions, and the Aegean Islands were ceded to the Kingdom of Greece, and Greece, under the leadership of Prime Minister Venizelos, formed its long-cherished dream of a Greater Greece, or Megaliidea.
Greece was sandwiched between Britain, which held hegemony over the Mediterranean, and Russia, which had strong influence in the Balkans. Politically, it implemented an authoritarian dictatorship similar to Russia, while economically it strengthened its ties with Britain.
In addition, Kurdistan, Armenia and Iraq would become independent kingdoms under Russian protection, while Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Palestine would become independent republics under British protection.
In addition, Cyprus was ceded to Britain, while Rhodes, the Dodecanese Islands, and Kuwait were ceded to Russia, which achieved its long-cherished "Southward Movement Policy."
In response to this harsh peace treaty, the Ankara government led by Mustafa Kemal rose up in Turkey, but the uprising failed because the Entente powers, who wanted to divide the Ottoman Empire, supported Greece and the Ottoman Sultan.
As a result, the Greco-Turkish War ended with the victory of Greece and the Entente Powers, and the Ottoman Empire was dissolved and reorganized, barely managing to retain its remaining territories on the Anatolian Peninsula.
In order to suppress domestic liberal forces, democrats, and nationalism and maintain the Sultan's dictatorship, the Ottoman Empire approached its former enemy, the Russian Empire, organized a powerful secret police, and suppressed anti-government activity.
In addition, with the outbreak of World War I, the government collapsed in Albania, which was left divided into many factions. In 1919, with the help of Russia, Ahmed Zog, the head of a powerful clan, finally unified the country and ascended to the throne as Zog I.
Zog I, who became the leader of the new Kingdom of Albania, strengthened economic ties with the Kingdom of Italy, while at the same time checking Italy by forming an alliance with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was under Russian influence.
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Thus, peace treaties were finally signed with all the Central Powers in the summer of 1919.
Although this was an extremely harsh treaty for the defeated nations, requiring them to cede territory, secure independence for ethnic minorities, and impose large indemnities. However, unlike Stalin's previous Treaty of Versailles, significant concessions were made on restrictions on armaments in preparation for the communist regime in France and domestic rebellions.
Therefore, in order to counter the internal threat of rebellions by republicans who opposed the monarchy and communists who were hostile to capitalism, the Central Powers also moved toward compromise and peace by obtaining a promise that "the Entente powers would support the former Central Powers government in anti-communist efforts."
And as per the agreement, immediately after the treaty was signed, the Allied forces, led by Russia, launched a war of intervention and support against the former enemy governments, crushing the local communist and republican rebel forces.
On the other hand, the United States, which had adhered to the principles of the Monroe Doctrine throughout the war, was alarmed by the outcome of the war, which had essentially resulted in the division of Europe by Britain and Russia, and presented a large-scale reconstruction plan for Europe.
The large-scale reconstruction aid program, named after its inventor, US Vice President Thomas Marshall, was called the Marshall Plan and became a savior for bread-starved Europe. Although America was unable to take part in the war, it was able to exert its influence through the reconstruction of Europe and at the same time secure a market for the sale of the country's enormous production capacity.
There were many cautious voices from Britain and Russia that feared that if the alliance were rebuilt, the Central Powers would be revived again, but these two countries also had large amounts of debt to the United States, so they could not take a very forceful stance.
Above all, the diplomatic situation in which the world's first communist regime was born in northern France as a result of the prosaic French Civil War led to a conciliatory attitude toward Germany and Austria.
Thus, the First World War came to an end.